Fae Courts

Once upon a time, the realm of Fairie was ungoverned. Fae are, by nature, a very chaotic sort. As such, Fairie became a chaotic and lawless place, filled with tricksters and mischief makers, who often do more harm than good. In a bid for order amongst the chaos, the first Fairy Queen rose to power. Many trickster-spirits, who had grown accustomed to the chaotic nature of The Lands Between, did not approve of this new monarchy. Many Fae saw the existence of one creature, higher than all the rest, to be an affront to everything the realm of Fairie stood for. As an act of rebellion, many Fae swore allegiance not to the existing fairy queen, but to a queen of their own, and thus the Seelie and Unseelie courts were born.

The Seelie and Unseelie define themselves in opposition to each other. Seelie was order so Unseelie became chaos. Unseelie was night, so Seelie became day. Seelie was life, so Unseelie became death. That being said, they are far from entirely separate. The two courts can often be seen playing pranks on one another and causing chaos in each other's courts. They inter-mingle quite often, though these interactions often end in chaos, in one form or another. Despite their feelings towards one another, the Seelie and Unseelie courts are not opposites. In fact, they are compliments to one another. They are two sides to the same coin, the yin and yang of Fairie. Neither could exist without the other.

Over time, more courts have formed, some under the umbrella of the Seelie or Unseelie, and completely separate. The most prominent of these courts are the Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter Courts, but there are many others.

Words have Power

Although the courts are constantly engaged in a struggle for power, this never takes the form of warfare or violent battle. The Fae are creatures of magic and, as such, their every word carries magic with it. A fairy insult is capable of dealing physical damage to its recipient, especially if the recipient is another fey. A battle between fae often looks more like a carefully maneuvered flyting or battle of insults, which can get deadly fast. Many fae get around this by saying very little. After all, your words cannot accidentally cause harm if you simply do not speak unless you have to. However, many others choose to do the exact opposite. Instead of carefully choosing each word to say, they wrap each of their phrases in enough flowery talk to cushion any possible possible damage. Those with these two opposing ideologies tend not to get along.

Existing Courts

Name	Associations
Seelie Court	Light, Day, Sun, Life, Order
Unseelie Court	Darkness, Night, Moon, Death, Chaos
Spring	TBD
Summer	TBD
Fall	TBD
Winter	TBD

Choosing a court

Any fae may claim a court, though you may only claim one (unless an exception is made by your monarchs). Claiming a court is a personal choice that comes down to a few things to determine the best lore fit for one's character. The first determining factor is location, as the Seasonal Courts are active and exist on the west coast and some of the souther United States. The Seelie and Unseelie courts however exist in the Midwest area primarily. Courts can be chosen by many things, including race, character alignment, aesthetics, and just overall vibes. See the court pages for imformation that may help in picking the right fit, or reach out to another courtly fae!